UFC 127's B.J. Penn has considered retirement before

Following a failed attempt to reclaim his belt and a second loss to Frankie Edgar in 2010, Penn considered calling it quits.

Following a UFC 127 majority draw with Jon Fitch on Saturday, Penn again was noncommittal on his future. But if his post-event flight plays out like it did after UFC 118, the view from 30,000 feet could provide some clarity.

In the headliner of a pay-per-view event at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC) won the first round, and Fitch (23-3-1 MMA, 13-1-1 UFC) dominated the third round with a sustained ground-and-pound assault. The second round and the score of the third ultimately proved the deciding factors in the bout, which was scored 29-28 (for Fitch), 28-28 and 28-28. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) scored it 29-28 for Fitch.

It was an obvious letdown for both fighters, who were promised a title shot with a victory. After the fight, though, Penn, wasn’t thinking about belts or a potential rematch as much as he was his immediate future.

Did his post-fight comments really include hints at retirement?

“I don’t know what was really running through my head,” the two-division former champ said at the post-event press conference. “As soon as the fight was done, a million different things were running through my head. A couple people asked me that. Did I say before the fight this was my last fight? I don’t know. I’m still just up in the air and still kind of disappointed I gave away the third round like that.”

Penn, though, likely will have nearly a full day of flights to get back home to Hawaii. And as he told MMAjunkie.com after UFC 118, that flight time can be a time for reflection.

“I was flying home (after UFC 118), and I was kind of like, ‘Maybe I don’t want to do this anymore; I don’t know what’s wrong. If I’m going to go out there and perform like that, maybe this isn’t something worth doing,'” he said. “But when I got to Hawaii and jumped on a little island-hopper to go to my island, something told me, ‘B.J., stick to your game plan.’ So I’m sticking to it.”

Following UFC 118, Penn moved up a weight class and returned to the welterweight division. The offer to fight former rival Matt Hughes proved the catalyst for the move, and Penn responded with a 21-second knockout victory. Within an hour of the win, officials announced they had booked Penn for the UFC 127 headliner with Fitch.

Of course, there’s no shame in fighting the world’s No. 2 welterweight to a draw. But the 32-year-old said he has interests outside of his professional-fighting career, such as a family and young daughter. And without the financial need to compete, Penn’s decision whether or not to retire will be influenced by little else but his own desire.

While recent history may suggest that fire could be stoked again, Penn said he just isn’t certain.